Prejudice, Progress, and Potential: Understanding Sickle Cell Disease, Racial Inequities in Care, and Innovations in Treatment

This presentation will provide an overview of sickle cell disease, discuss the challenges in healthcare faced by patients, and explore new treatment advancements like gene therapy and stem cell treatment.

Speaker – Fola Ayibiowu

Folayemi Ayibiowu is a third-year Medical Student at University College Dublin in Ireland. She is a Nigerian-Canadian with a passion for Human Rights activism, clinical research, and regenerative medicine. Folayemi began her research experience at the Hospital for Sick Children, performing laboratory experiments and investigations into phagocytosis, kidney health, and cell biology. She currently works as a Student Volunteer at UHN with Dr. Mucsi’s KHE-ACB and CARM laboratories, while also volunteering in the SickKids Rheumatology research lab. Through working with CARM and KHE-ACB, Folayemi hopes to educate others, especially black youth, about regenerative medicine and clinical research.